It's an interesting phenomenon the way people so casually toss aside common decency when the chance of someone punching their face in is reduced to near 0%. I'm curious how many of our social niceties are derived directly from the fear of getting one's ass kicked.

Ah, 'tryhard', the insult of the losing man/woman. That one's always confused me a bit, seeing as how the people who tend to throw out such labels are also the ones who get the most worked up about winning.

Ah gamer culture. Why is it that insults made up by 13 year olds stick throughout the entirety of the much larger over 18 crowd? If I heard another gamer over 18 call me or anyone else a tryhard I'd possibly laugh myself into an early grave.

Gorrath:It's an interesting phenomenon the way people so casually toss aside common decency when the chance of someone punching their face in is reduced to near 0%. I'm curious how many of our social niceties are derived directly from the fear of getting one's ass kicked.

I believe it was Robert Howard who said through his creation "Conan the Barbarian" the following about civility, courtesy and manners. It's surprisingly accurate, even today:

"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing."

This, sadly, tends to be true. On the internet, when you don't have to worry about any sort of reprimand harsher than some poorly-typed profanity, a lot of people tend to stop caring about showing what was once considered common courtesy. Being civil even when disagreeing with someone on an issue, trying to make a good first impression, trying to keep other people's feelings or comfort in mind before you say something or behave a certain way, yeah, not something you see very often anymore. It's less frequent, even in real life public, these days and online, it's almost nonexistent. The prevailing attitude unfortunately seems to be "Fuck You, Got Mine".

Well... at least back in the Unreal days, tryhards were people who wanted so much to win, they would exploit glitches and other fun ruining garbage. It was something we called them right before shunning them from future matches.

I love how Grey descends further and further into the realm of DOTA, I can hazard a guess if the material spawned from there or in other areas of gaming.

Not a bad thing, though. For someone who criticizes/satirizes the gaming community through his comics, its pretty funny seeing him involved in one of shittiest parts of it. Should be a goldmine of material for him.

Zachary Amaranth:It's funny watching someone get worked up over me winning and then saying I'm a tryhard.

Because it's a very stupid name? ;p

And not just cause it sounds dumb.I mean really? How is "you put too much effort into things" really that much of an insult?Though, I suppose all the "labels" are pretty dumb if you think about them for longer than it took people to come up with them.

Also; Looking forward to more side comics. They've been pretty good so far. =w= b

Jandau:Nothing new here. People like thinking that they themselves are perfectly balanced. They alone are doing stuff the way it's meant to be done.

You game more than me? You're a No-lifer! You game less than me? You're a Casual!

You put in more effort than me? You're a Tryhard!You put in less effort than me? You're a Scrub

You play better than me? You're a Cheater!You play worse than me? You're a Noob!

The list goes on and on...

Now, how do you call a guy who is having more fun than you? :)

I call him a liar, because nobody is having more fun than me! It's literally impossible for someone to have more fun than me since I'm the only one playing the games right. Or at least, I would be having the most fun if it weren't for all those no-lifers, casuals, tryhards, scrubs, cheaters and noobs... ;)

Well, more the irony of someone losing their shit trying to beat me and then accusing me of trying too hard. Like, I'm a fairly casual player of most games I play. I don't play LOL or DOTA, and most of the online multiplayer I play to play with friends. I play without them to get better, but I don't put significant effort into it. And I'm not all that good. My KDR in BLOPS2 was just baaarely positive.

I mean really? How is "you put too much effort into things" really that much of an insult?

I think it's a leftover from the 90s. Growing up in the 90s, caring or trying were like, cardinal sins. You see a lot of both on the internet, still.

But yeah, it's a dumb insult. Just not the part that made it funny to me.

Everybody who calls someone a tryhard is just redirecting frustration over his own failure towards those who can accomplish more with the same effort.Also, the names that go down in history all almost exclusively tryhards. Einstein tried hard, he became the patron saint of intellectualism. Bill Gates tried hard, he became a billionaire. Jimi Hendrix tried hard, he became one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Dschingis Khan tried hard, he became emperor over the largest empire in the history of the world. Fatal1ty tried hard, he is still paying rent from gaming dollars. I tried hard, I won games and got into gold where life is good.

Jandau:Nothing new here. People like thinking that they themselves are perfectly balanced. They alone are doing stuff the way it's meant to be done.

You game more than me? You're a No-lifer! You game less than me? You're a Casual!

You put in more effort than me? You're a Tryhard!You put in less effort than me? You're a Scrub

You play better than me? You're a Cheater!You play worse than me? You're a Noob!

The list goes on and on...

Now, how do you call a guy who is having more fun than you? :)

I call him a liar, because nobody is having more fun than me! It's literally impossible for someone to have more fun than me since I'm the only one playing the games right. Or at least, I would be having the most fun if it weren't for all those no-lifers, casuals, tryhards, scrubs, cheaters and noobs... ;)

Dollabillyall:Everybody who calls someone a tryhard is just redirecting frustration over his own failure towards those who can accomplish more with the same effort.Also, the names that go down in history all almost exclusively tryhards. Einstein tried hard, he became the patron saint of intellectualism. Bill Gates tried hard, he became a billionaire. Jimi Hendrix tried hard, he became one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Dschingis Khan tried hard, he became emperor over the largest empire in the history of the world. Fatal1ty tried hard, he is still paying rent from gaming dollars. I tried hard, I won games and got into gold where life is good.

Jandau:Nothing new here. People like thinking that they themselves are perfectly balanced. They alone are doing stuff the way it's meant to be done.

You game more than me? You're a No-lifer! You game less than me? You're a Casual!

You put in more effort than me? You're a Tryhard!You put in less effort than me? You're a Scrub

You play better than me? You're a Cheater!You play worse than me? You're a Noob!

The list goes on and on...

I have to agree, and the problem isn't just among gamers. Many people in all walks of life do this same sort of rationalization and projection to somehow make themselves feel better about their own situation; essentially, these people are unconsciously saying to themselves, "everyone should be like me so that I feel more normal and secure in who I am, how I behave, and the choices I make in life." It's a mental defense mechanism, of which we are often unaware.

When we become more aware that we are engaging in such a mental self-defense, we can more actively seek not to engage in such delusions and become more truly secure and content in who we are as a person while accepting and appreciating the differences of others. We can elevate ourselves to no longer need such a primitive reactionary system to be happy with ourselves and to love ourselves, and we can seek to extend that happiness and love to others.

FLOWER POWER!...HOOOOO!!!

(Sorry, had to add that bit at the end after such a sappy, love-love post...hehe.)

Gorrath:It's an interesting phenomenon the way people so casually toss aside common decency when the chance of someone punching their face in is reduced to near 0%. I'm curious how many of our social niceties are derived directly from the fear of getting one's ass kicked.

I believe it was Robert Howard who said through his creation "Conan the Barbarian" the following about civility, courtesy and manners. It's surprisingly accurate, even today:

"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing."

This, sadly, tends to be true. On the internet, when you don't have to worry about any sort of reprimand harsher than some poorly-typed profanity, a lot of people tend to stop caring about showing what was once considered common courtesy. Being civil even when disagreeing with someone on an issue, trying to make a good first impression, trying to keep other people's feelings or comfort in mind before you say something or behave a certain way, yeah, not something you see very often anymore. It's less frequent, even in real life public, these days and online, it's almost nonexistent. The prevailing attitude unfortunately seems to be "Fuck You, Got Mine".

I love, love, love me some Conan the Barbarian. Forgot about that quote too. If we have seen a downward trend in real life niceties as well, it may also be linked to the same issue. Time was, if someone insulted you viciously and inappropriately, no one would bat an eye if you punched them for it. Now a-days, people will sue the crap out of you for it. Not that that's an issue mind, violent behavior is not an appropriate response to insults, but it has likely degraded people's sense of politeness.